Religion Notes: April 27

Saturday

Apr 27, 2013 at 4:00 AM

Grace Lutheran Church at 1245 Sixth Ave. W., of Hendersonville will be naming a circular garden at Trinity View Senior Living Community at 10 a.m. today in Arden. The naming of the garden is in response to their generous donation to Lutheran Services Carolinas Keeping the Promise campaign. Funds from the campaign will help with the costs to build four new or replacement skilled nursing facilities, renovate existing facilities, and launch a home and community based services project across North Carolina that will help seniors stay safely in their own homes longer. A short blessing will be held with attendees from Grace Lutheran and Lutheran Services Carolinas. Individuals will be working together during the morning to beautify the garden space at the community as part of Grace Lutheran's Servant Saturday. After the ceremony, an outside picnic will be held honoring Grace Lutheran Church.

Members of Agudas Israel Congregation at 505 Glasgow Lane in Hendersonville will celebrate a day of community service beginning 8:30 a.m. May 5. Members will go throughout the city and Henderson County to help repair the world with acts of loving kindness and good deeds.This Mitzvah Day is the first time the Hendersonville Jewish community has been collectively engaged in working for the overall betterment and beautification of Henderson County.Heading up this undertaking are Bonnie and Alan Cooper, newly arrived to Henderson County from Memphis and experienced Mitzvah Day organizers with their former congregation, Temple Israel.The Mitzvah committee has identified 14 projects to begin its 2013 campaign. Congregants have signed up for diverse projects which include: baking and delivering cookies to police and firefighters as a token of appreciation, assembling amenity bags for the homeless in shelters and soup kitchens, entertaining at elder care homes with sing-a-longs, helping to build with Habitat for Humanity, and working at the local Humane Society. Those interested in rolling up their sleeves and working for a better Hendersonville and Henderson County are urged to sign up. Call 828-693-9838 or email agudasisraelnc@bellsouth.net for more information.

The Choir of St. James Episcopal Church, at 766 N. Main St., Hendersonville hosts the Choral Evensong at 5 p.m. May 5 with The Rev. Joel G. Hafer officiating. The choir will sing Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in Eb by Charles Wood, Anglican chant by Thomas Norris, and Prayers and Responses by Richard Ayleward. Anthems will be If ye Love Me by Thomas Tallis and Antiphon (Let All the World in Ev'ry Corner Sing) by Vaughan Williams.The service will be followed by an organ recital by Dr. Brennan Szafron, Organist/Choirmaster at Church of the Advent in Spartanburg. Before coming to Spartanburg, Dr. Szafron was the assistant organist and choirmaster of Christ Episcopal Church, Grosse Pointe, MI, with whom he toured France and Switzerland in the summer of 2003. He was also a student at the University of Michigan, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance, studying with Robert Glasgow. Other degrees include a Master of Music degree from Yale University, where his teachers were Thomas Murray and Martin Jean, and a Bachelor of Music degree, with distinction, from the University of Alberta, where his teachers were Jacobus Kloppers and Marnie Giesbrecht. At the age of 21, he became a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists.Dr. Szafron will be playing the Bach Toccata in E Major (BWV 566), the Widor Scherzo from Symphony IV, the Sowerby Fanfare, and other works by Sweelinck, Bonnet, and Gerald Bales. The service and recital will be followed by a candlelight reception in the Parish Hall. Call 828-694-6925 or brad@stjamesepiscopal.com for more information.

Consecrated as an Episcopal church in the midst of the Civil War, St. James Episcopal Church, at 766 N. Main St., of Hendersonville is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. Sesquicentennial programs:u 10 a.m. May 5: Presentation by Tom Orr, local historian, dramatist and Time-News columnist. He will speak from his perspective of St. James in the community. u 10 a.m. May 12: St. James parishioners Charles Medd and Frank Ballard will discuss the church's history, including some mysteries and surprises. Active in the parish since 1950, Medd is the church archivist and chairs the sesquicentennial planning committee. Ballard is helping update the parish history. The original St. James church, a simple English village styled brick building, was consecrated on Sept. 19, 1863 at its present location, 766 North Main Street. Its first rector, the Rev. Nicholas Collin Hughes, and eight parishioners took part in this dedication service. Episcopal worship services in Hendersonville began as early as 1843, led by clergy from St. John in Wilderness, Flat Rock. The Rev. Joel G. Hafer has served as St. James' rector since 2004. Kristin Huntley is the senior warden of the vestry.

The School for Little Folks at St. James Episcopal Church hosts the "It's for the Bird's" auction beginning 6 p.m. May 17 at the church, 766 N. Main St., Hendersonville, next to Bruce Drysdale school. this year. On Friday night, Stillwell Hall and gardens will be transformed into a bird sanctuary filled with beautiful items and bird boutique. Many dinners, trips and of course beautifully made items will be auctioned off. The Preview Party begins at 6 p.m. with wine and cheese, followed by the live auction at 7 p.m. Admission is a $10 donation. All proceeds help fund new playground equipment and repair others.

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